1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to organosilane masterbatches, processes for their preparation, their use in rubber mixtures and products derived from or containing the organosilane master batches.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional organosilane compositions consisting of or consisting essentially of 30 to 60 weight-% of one or more organosilanes and 70 to 40 weight-% of carbon blacks are known (U.S. Pat. No. 4,128,438). Known organosilane compositions do not incorporate well into rubber compounds and may form in homogeneous mixtures. Disadvantages of known organosilane compositions include high bead abrasion of the granulate form during transport.
It is known that unvulcanized elastomer compositions can be prepared in multi-stage processes which include substantially dispersing a particulate filler selected from modified carbon blacks and sulfur crosslinking agent into a sulfur crosslinkable hydrocarbon elastomer to produce a substantially unvulcanized elastomer masterbatch. A sulfur crosslinking agent comprising sulfur or a sulfur donor is also added as a crosslinker for the hydrocarbon elastomer. The substantially unvulcanized elastomer composition is then prepared in at least one subsequent stage of the multi-stage process, for example by mechanical work-up of the masterbatch (U.S. Pat. No. 5,916,956).
A disadvantage of conventional elastomer compositions is that the rubber content is high when different rubbers are present in the masterbatch.